THOMASVILLE — In-person graduation returned to Thomas University on Saturday morning, but as is expected in the COVID-19 era, with a twist. 

Graduates sat with family members in the audience and stood as their names were called in recognition of completing their degree requirements. 

But it didn’t deter from their enthusiasm as they celebrated with friends and families.

“Well, you made it,” TU President Dr. Andy Sheppard declared to the gathered graduates Saturday morning. “And I think, I really do believe, we have learned something here — a global pandemic may cause a few flight delays, but Night Hawks always take off.”

Sheppard also urged the graduates to thank their families on their commencement.

“They have encouraged you,” he said. “Perhaps at times, admonished you. And you know you needed it. Planned for you, worried about you and most importantly they have loved you. Social distancing means that not all of them can be with us right now. Nevertheless, they are here, and they are watching.”

Sheppard told the graduates their caps and gowns are rooted in a University of Paris tradition that preceded the Renaissance.

“You are embodying a point at which the past and the future meet,” he said. “Collectively, you reflect the sum of our intellectual inheritance, and you signify your individual role in carrying us forward. You are a very special group. You wear the exact same garb as the graduates of the class of 1348.

“They graduated almost 700 years into a world ravaged by plague,” he said. “They protected much of what makes us human, and they took responsibility for what would become their new normal. Now, you have reaped the benefit of their work and that same solemn duty now falls to you. It will be exciting to see how you pay it forward.”

Should the world be plunged into another global pandemic 1,000 years from now, Sheppard said, a new set of graduates will move the world forward because of what this class has done.

“It is comforting to know that those future graduates, dressed just like you are now, will know what is best because you have tended our sacred trust and passed it forward,” he said.

Thomas University held two graduation ceremonies Saturday. Those receiving bachelor’s and associate’s degrees gathered in front of Smith-Bonvilian Hall on Forbes Campus in the morning, and those receiving graduate degrees were honored Saturday evening. 

Chelsie Cosby, the president of the TU Alumni Board of Governors, told the graduates of what she went through as a non-traditional student earning her Thomas University degree.

“It was a lot to balance,” she said. “I reflect on time at Thomas University proudly. I learned from the some of the best professors a university can offer and I learned just as much from my classmates, even if they were a few years younger than me. Now I reflect on what you all have endured and think wow, maybe I had it easy. You are here after a college experience unlike any other. But you all pushed through.”

Cosby quoted 19th century British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli, who said “there is no education like adversity.”

“I would venture there is no education like Thomas University’s, especially in the heart of adversity,” Cosby said.

Editor Pat Donahue can be reached at (229) 226-2400 ext. 1806.